by Ben Waggoner
Wieland lay in the king’s yard, in a bad state. He said one thing to the king: “Lord,” he said, “I approve of the fact that you had the sinews severed in both my legs, because I have richly deserved it. Now I can never part from you as long as I live, and I don’t want to, even if I could.”
The king said, “I shall certainly reward you well for that, and make good the harm inflicted, and I will give you as much gold and silver as you ask for.”
The king had a smithy built, and Wieland was brought there. Every day, Wieland sat and forged treasures for the king from gold and silver and everything else that could be forged. The king was pleased with how Wieland could not escape, and he felt that matters had turned out well.
LXXIII. Wieland Kills the King’s Sons
King Nidung had four children, three sons and one daughter. One day, King Nidung’s two youngest sons went to Wieland’s smithy with their bows, and asked him to forge arrows for them. But Wieland said that he didn’t have spare time to do it. “And even though you two are the sons of a king,” said Wieland, “I won’t forge anything against your father’s will and command and the orders that he sent me today. But if you want me to forge something for you, then you two must grant me a favor first. It’s a very small thing.”
They asked what that could be. Wieland said that they had to walk backwards to the smithy as soon as there was new-fallen snow. The boys didn’t care whether they walked backwards or forwards. It was wintertime, and snow fell that same night, and the next morning the king’s sons came to the smithy before sunrise. They had walked just as Wieland had asked, and now they asked Wieland to work. Wieland said that he wouldn’t delay. He closed the door as firmly as he could, and then he killed both of the boys and dumped them under his bellows, in a deep grave. The king thought that they must have gone into the woods to hunt birds and animals, or down to the beach to fish. When it was time for dinner, they were searched for but couldn’t be found.
Now Wieland was approached and asked if they had come there. Wieland said that they had come there and gone away, and said that he had seen them heading homewards towards the king’s hall. “They had their bows and arrows here, and it seems likeliest to me that they must have gone to the forest,” he said.
Now they went home and saw that the boys’ footprints were pointing towards home. No one suspected Wieland in the case. The king searched for his sons for many days, and they were never found. Now everyone was tired of searching for them any longer, and it seemed most likely to the king that they must have gone into the woods and an animal must have hurt them, or else the sea must have hurt them if they had gone to the beach. There were many guesses as to what had happened, but none were right. But Wieland had pondered the disgrace and shame that had been done to him, because he wasn’t lacking in ferocity, as his nature was completely cold. And he felt that he had avenged himself somewhat, whether or not there was more vengeance in store.
Now Wieland took the boys and flensed all the flesh from the bones. Then he took their skulls and decked them in gold and silver and made two large goblets out of them. He made ale-ladles out of the shoulder blades and hipbones, ornamenting them with gold and silver. From some of their bones he made knife handles, and from some he made flutes, from some keys, and from some candlesticks to stand on the king’s table. From each bone he made something for serving at table, and these would have been fine treasures had they not been made with such dreadful betrayal and treachery. These treasures were used when the king had the largest number of great men at his feasts.
CHAPTER LXXIV. Wieland Repairs the King’s Daughter’s Ring
It once happened that the king’s daughter and her maidservant had gone out into their garden. The maiden broke her finest gold ring so that it was no longer usable. She didn’t dare tell her father or mother, and she asked her maid what would be best for something that had gone so badly. The maid answered, “Wieland will fix this quickly.”
And this seemed advisable to them both. The maid went to Wieland’s smithy and said that her mistress had sent her there with her ring for him to fix. Wieland answered that he didn’t dare to do any smithwork without orders from the king.
The maid said, “The king won’t take it badly if you forge what the lady asks, and you might do this thing well for her sake. She doesn’t want to show the ring to her father or mother before it’s fixed. Then you’ll have many thanks for it, and the king will grant you his friendship in return, when he knows.”
Wieland answered, “I won’t take your word for it. But if she comes here herself, then I’ll do as I deem fit.”
The maid went home and told the king’s daughter that Wieland wouldn’t work unless she herself came to him. She said that that wouldn’t stand in the way, if it was better for him to work then than before—“and he can hope for very little good from me if he doesn’t do it.”
The king’s daughter went away with her maid and met with Wieland. Now the king’s daughter came into the smithy and asked Wieland to fix the ring, and he said that first he wanted to make something else. Wieland locked the door as tightly as he could and lay with the king’s daughter. When he was done, he fixed the ring before they parted, and it was much better than before it had broken. They both kept what had happened secret for a while.
CHAPTER LXXV. About Wieland’s Brother Egil and His Archery
At that time, young Egil, Wieland’s brother, came to the household of King Nidung, because Wieland had sent him word. Egil was the handsomest of all men. In one respect he excelled over all men: he was a better shot with the bow than anyone else. The king received him well, and Egil was there for a long time.
The king wanted to test whether Egil could shoot as well as was said, or not. He had Egil’s three-year-old son taken and had an apple placed on his head, and ordered Egil to shoot, so that it would not pass over his head either to the left or to the right. He was to hit only the apple, but it was not forbidden for him to shoot the boy, because King Nidung realized that Egil would under no circumstances do that if he could help it. He was to shoot only one arrow, no more.
Egil took three arrows, and he smoothed the feathers and nocked one on the string and shot the apple in the center. The arrow carried off half the apple with it, and everything fell to the ground at once. This famous shot has been celebrated for a long time, and the king found him to be an excellent man. He was the most famous of all men. People call him Olrun’s Egil.24
King Nidung asked Egil why he had taken three arrows, since it was stipulated that he was to shoot only one. Egil answered. “My lord,” he said, “I won’t lie to you. If I had killed the boy with one arrow, I meant these two for you.”
But the king thought well of him. Everyone felt that he had spoken boldly.25
CHAPTER LXXVI. Wieland Speaks With the King’s Daughter
Now Wieland had avenged his disgrace, and he know that if this was discovered, the king would have him killed. Wieland called his brother Egil to come to him and asked him to bring the maiden to speak with him, and he did so. They met and discussed many things, and it came up in their talk that Wieland wanted to marry no other woman than the king’s daughter. She said that she wanted to marry no other man than Wieland, and they were both well pleased with that.
Then Wieland said to her, “I mussed up our clothing when we met. I expect that you’ll give birth to a child, and it seems more likely to me that it will be a son. If I don’t see him, you must tell him that I have made him a weapon, and I’ve hidden it where water goes in and wind goes out.”
That was where he cooled his forge. Now they parted.
CHAPTER LXXVII. Wieland Makes Himself a Feather Cloak
On one occasion, Wieland asked his brother Egil to get him all the feathers that he could, both large and small, and said that he wanted to make a set of wings. Egil went into the forest and hunted all kinds of birds and brought them to Wieland. Now Wieland mad
e wings, and when they were ready, they looked like a feathered skin flayed from a vulture26 or from the bird called an ostrich.
Wieland asked Egil to get in to what he had made and fly, and test whether they were any good. Egil said, “How do I take off, or fly, or land?”
Wieland said, “You have to take off into the wind, and you must fly both high and long, and you must land with the wind.”
Then Egil got into the feather-cloak and flew up into the air as lightly as the most agile bird. When he had to land, he dived headfirst to earth and landed hard, and there was such a whistling in his ears and temples that he nearly lost consciousness.
Now Wieland said, “Tell me, Egil my brother, were these wings of any use?”
Egil said, “Had it been as easy to land with them as it was to fly, I’d be in another country by now, and you’d never get them back.”
Wieland said, “I shall fix that defect.”
Then Wieland got into the feather-cloak with assistance from his brother Egil, and got up onto a house and flew up into the air and said, “I told you wrongly when I told you to land with the wind, because I didn’t believe that you’d give them to me, if you knew that they would be as good as they are. You might have known that all birds land into the wind, and take off in the same way. Now I want to tell you my plan, brother. I will go home now, and I will meet King Nidung and speak to him. If I say something that displeases the king, and he forces you to shoot at me, then aim under my left arm. I’ve tied a bladder underneath it. Inside it there is blood from King Nidung’s sons. You can aim your shot so that I won’t be hurt—if you value our kinship at all.”
CHAPTER LXXVIII. Wieland Flies to His Estates in Zealand
Now Wieland flew to the highest tower on the king’s estate. The king was going to his hall, and many men were with him. When he saw Wieland, he said, “Are you a bird now, Wieland? You’ve made a great spectacle of yourself.”
Wieland said, “Lord, now I am a bird, now I am a man. I mean to leave, and you’ll never get power over me, no matter how long you live. Our original bargain was for you to give me your daughter along with half your kingdom, because you felt that terrible troubles and strife were at your doorstep. But you made me an outlaw and a fugitive because I defended myself and killed a man who wanted to kill me first. You seized on that excuse to break with me, and you paid me back poorly for my labors. Nonetheless, I grew crafty, even though I had no strength or help. Great enmity has come about between us. You took the sinews in both my legs and cut them apart. For that, I killed both your sons, and your goblets bear witness: their skulls are within. I placed their bones in all of your best table service, and I won’t keep that business secret from you. And as I told you before, everything bad that you did to me, your daughter paid for when I parted her legs. I believe that she’s pregnant and I was the cause. Now our dealings are ended.”
Wieland flew up high into the sky. King Nidung said, “You, young Egil—shoot Wieland!”
Egil replied, “I won’t do that to my brother.”
King Nidung said that Egil would meet death if he didn’t shoot—and said that he’d be dead, all the same, on account of his brother’s deeds. “The only way you can save your life is if you shoot him, and no other way.”
Egil nocked an arrow to the string and shot under Wieland’s left arm, and blood fell to the earth. The king and all his men said that that must be the death of him.
Wieland flew home to Zealand and went to his estates, which his father Wade the giant had owned. King Nidung became sick soon after that, and then died. His son, who was named Otwin, took the kingdom, and he was beloved by all. He was also kind to his sister.
CHAPTER LXXIX. Wieland Settles with Otwin and Marries the King’s Daughter
The king’s daughter took to her bed and gave birth to a boy. A name was given to him: he was called Witege.27 At home in Zealand, Wieland heard about everything that had happened, and sent word to King Otwin in Jutland and asked for a truce and a settlement with him. The king wanted to settle with Wieland and granted him a parley. Wieland went to Jutland and was well received, and King Otwin betrothed his sister to him and invited him to stay there if he wanted. Wieland said that he would most prefer going home to his native land and his father’s inheritance, but he said that he would be at the king’s disposal in all goodly affairs that he might want to bring about. King Otwin was willing to let him choose, and swore friendship with him.
Wieland went home to Zealand with his wife and their son Witege, three years old. The king gave them wealth and treasures in great store, and they parted as good friends. Wieland lived in Zealand for many years, famed far and wide throughout the northern half of the world for his skill and all his stratagems.
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Endnotes
1. Andersson, “An Interpretation of Þiðreks saga,” pp. 347-351.
2. Andersson, “Interpretation,” pp. 356-366; he suggests that the manuscript reached Norway even before Hakon’s reign.
3. My translation; see also Curschmann, “The Prologue of Þiðreks Saga”, pp . 143-144.
4. Andersson, “Composition and Literary Culture,” pp. 3-5.
5. Andersson, “Composition,” pp. 17-23.
6. Paff, Geographical and Ethnic Names, p. 91.
7. The Norse names are Velent and his father Vaði, but in this translation I turned them back into German names, Wieland and Wade.
8. Norse Austrvegr, the usual term for the eastern Baltic. King Vilkinus is a legendary king whose realm, Vilkinaland, allegedly included all of Sweden, Denmark, and the south Baltic coast. Grimm thought his name was borrowed from Latin Vulcanus (Teutonic Mythology, p. 376), but the kingdom is called Willtinaland or Villzinaland in some manuscripts, and probably comes from Slavic tribes on the Baltic coast of present-day Poland, known as the Veleti or Wilzi (Paff, Geographical and Ethnic Names, pp. 216-221).
9. Norse sækona; probably a translation of German Meerweib or Seejungfer (Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, vol. 2, p. 488). In the Middle High German poem Rabenschlacht, she’s called Frou Wâchilt, and she saves her great-grandson, Wieland’s son Witige, by taking him to the bottom of the sea before Dietrich can catch him (Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, vol. 1, p. 376; the story also appears in a Swedish chronicle, published as ch. 439 of Þiðreks saga).